COLUMBUS, Ohio (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI wants the Catholic Church in America to be in the forefront of reviving Catholicism worldwide, the apostolic nuncio to the United States said in Columbus.

"The Church in the United States should lead the entire Church in the world" in a revitalization effort, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano said. "This is a great task, but you have the determination and the grace to do it. This I know is the vision of the Holy Father regarding the Church in the United States."

The archbishop was speaking to an audience of seminarians and benefactors of the Pontifical College Josephinum at its annual rector's dinner April 23. He called on the American Church to go beyond its mission of evangelizing the United States and "to be missionaries not only to the Third World, but especially to the countries of Europe.

"Christianity (in Europe) in some way has lost its strength and needs an example," he said, noting "very positive signs of growth" in vocations to the priesthood and the religious life in the United States.

Archbishop Vigano said he especially wanted to direct his message to young people, particularly those studying for the priesthood at the Josephinum.

The institution has experienced substantial growth in recent years and currently has an enrollment of more than 180 men, its highest in 25 years. They represent 29 dioceses from all over the United States, including six that sent seminarians to the institution for the first time this year, and their ethnic and cultural backgrounds echo the diversity of the American Church as a whole.

The nuncio, who serves as the Vatican's ambassador to the United States and is based in Washington, also serves as chancellor of the Josephinum.

I’m an Old Testament believer and hence not Catholic, nor Christian. Though I believe in the spirit herein so imparted, and would recomend the sense of this mission to American Catholics as it has, and still is, in and from America where the unity and sense of God has found it’s greatest source of strength unto the world.

Just as Philip was led by the Holy Spirit to run and catch up to the carriage where the convert-to-be was reading from Isaiah and wondering whom it was talking about, we are led by the Holy Spirit into innumerable conversations that can lead to evangelization and bringing people back to the church.

We have 14 lapsed Catholics in our Catholics Can Come Home Again class right now.

Awesome — somewhere, someone, moved by the Holy Spirit, invited these people back into the Church.

Go get ‘em! Just evangelize (talk, and then invite) as you go about your daily excursions.

Evangelization by Way of Disaster

How Christianity came to Ethiopia

The government official baptized by Philip in Acts 8: 38 returned home to Ethiopia. And then what? Did he spread the gospel?

Did other Ethiopians become Christians? Perhaps a few did. But the large-scale evangelization of Ethiopia did not occur until three centuries later. And it happened by accident.

The accident involved a man named Frumentius, from the city of Tyre (in modern Lebanon), sometime near the beginning of the fourth century. The account that survives is sketchy. But it seems that Frumentius took a trip through the Red Sea. Unfortunately, his ship sank near the African coast. At the time, this must have seemed like an unmitigated disaster. But it turned out to be a fortunate event for Ethiopia. (Is there such a thing as being shipwrecked in the Spirit? See Acts 27.)

Frumentius got to shore and traveled inland to Aksum, the capital of Ethiopia at that time. There he met the emperor and his son. Frumentius was a Christian, and he shared the gospel with the two royal figures. The son, Ezana, became a believer. In 330, when Ezana succeeded to the throne, he established Christianity as the religion of the land.

At this point, Frumentius traveled north to Egypt to consult with the bishop of Alexandria, the great Athanasius. St. Athanasius ordained Frumentius a bishop and sent him back to spearhead the continuing evangelization of Ethiopia.

Christianity took deep root in Ethiopia. Historically, the church in Ethiopia has had strong ties with the church in Egypt. At present, about two-thirds of Ethiopians are Christians. The great majority belong to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. There is also a small Catholic minority.

Frumentius lived long enough to see some of the good that God brought out of the shipwreck he experienced. His story encourages us to trust that God can bring good out of the disasters we experience as well.

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